Object Record

Catalog Number

4364-202

Title

Bag, Bladder; Buffalo

Object Name

Bag

Description

Bladder. Used as a storage bag for liquids. From a large animal, possibly a buffalo. The bag is oval, dried, transparent yellow and slightly wrinkled and collapsed. The mouth is cinched closed with a leather strip. A bladder bag was typically gotten wet to make it pliable.***WARNING: THIS OBJECT TESTED AS A POSSIBLE POSITIVE FOR ARSENIC MAY 2008***

Collected by Charles F. Zimmerman. Zimmerman was born in 1866 in La Porte, Indiana and spent his youth in Iowa. He came to Boyd County Nebraska in 1883. He spent several years farming and then went to college to study medicine. He studied at the Omaha Medical College, the medical college in Sioux City, Iowa, and Grant's Medical College of Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he graduated in 1898. In 1907 he became a registered pharmacist. He was employed by the Indian Service for 27 years. He also operated a drug store at Naper and served as a doctor in the community. He was said to have had a lucrative practice over several counties in two states. In 1897 he married Mollie R. Sprinkle. Mollie studied pharmacy and nursing under her husband and assisted him in the drug store and with nursing. They had two daughters who passed away as infants. As a hobby, Charles collected Native American objects. Most were said to have been gifts, however some were purchased. His store was said to have been decorated with "mounted animals and birds in lifelike poses, perched on shelves, in show cases and windows. Petrified bones, buffalo skulls, horns, ancient vases and what not, are in evidence everywhere. . . Another door opens to the doctor's consultation room and here the Indian relics and curios are displayed. Each of the different articles is numbered and tagged, with a history and description. There are nearly 300 articles.. ." Charles Zimmerman passed away at home in Naper, Nebraska on November 15, 1931. After Mr. Zimmerman's death, Mrs. Zimmerman took full charge of the store. The collection came to the Nebraska State Historical Society in 1934.

Credit line

Dr. and Mrs. Charles F. Zimmerman, Naper (Boyd), Nebraska

Collection

Zimmerman, Dr. and Mrs. Charles F.

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